


Corona

by baeconandeggs, hyunnieandtea



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Soulmate, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Previous soulmates met a tragic end, Realistic Fantasy, but this story does not follow them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 17:12:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyunnieandtea/pseuds/hyunnieandtea
Summary: “Honestly, here, use my coat. You’ll freeze.”“Don’t need it, thanks,”Baekhyun said, trying to push out words from his still choked up throat. He moved the stranger’s hand away, feeling the other man’s warm skin against his own. As their hands touched briefly, a feeling like a sweet latte moving down his throat into his stomach coursed through his body. It was a semi-nostalgic feeling, making his vision go in and out again.The stranger held out his pale hand firmly, the long coat hanging off his hand, collecting tiny snowflakes. “I’ll be fine, trust me.”





	Corona

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #:** BAE487  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** IT’S DONE! After a rough last few weeks, I can finally say I have my first completed fic under my belt. I just wanted to say a quick thank you to the mods for being so kind and my beta for helping despite my extreme procrastination at the last minute. I really went wild with the prompt, so I hope the dear prompter enjoys this as well. Hope you all enjoy the magic I tried to include, and sorry in advance if it gets a little confusing. Despite taking so long to complete, it was definitely fun to write, especially because it was cool to see how the story seemed to take itself. You can also try to rearrange the story in the proper order, but I felt inspired from a BAE fic I read before and another story in a whole other fandom I read YEARS ago that broke the story in pieces out of order. Thought it matched the “broken memories” idea too. If it’s too confusing, you can try reading it chronologically, but I can’t say how much detail will be in the right place at the right time. (Also sorry if the ending is totally rushed I suck at those...) Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this story! :)

  **00.**

Before the creation of Edison’s light bulb, there was magic. Between the sheets of ink stained paper laid words of incantations in large libraries dedicated to the education of the arts. Around each forest river bend were fairies dancing across stony pathways left by the current. In the continent of Asia, magic was flourishing. In the deepest forests, across the mountains, trails of light marked four kingdoms and their boundaries that they could freely cross to trade secrets and wisdom. Among the world of the magic, Mimics could manipulate the elements and bend them to their will.

Each Mimic, during the fifth year of their birth, has the chance to choose an object that would connect them to a time of year where their magic would be strongest to maintain balance in the world, with the equinox or solstice being a time of celebration in one of the four kingdoms. A feather quill plucked from a peacock matched the spring equinox, a conch shell that drifted from the blue waters of the pacific matched the summer solstice, a ring crafted from wood chopped form an elder tree in the mountains matched the fall equinox, and lastly was the goblet casted from the finest silver in all the continent, matching the winter solstice.

Children rejoiced during their fifth year of birth because they would be able to make rain halt in their wake or shake the ground to craft new mountain. Families were in tears knowing their child could be able to live a life of ease instead of facing the dull truth of the outside realm of the Nulls, those without magic.

Across the land, people began to separate into specific seasons and empires, and small countries were made. Of those kingdoms were Sol for the summer, Aki for the Autumn, Hiem for the winter, and Ver for the spring. Magic was flowing through the veins of plants and humans, leaving no place untouched by magic.

For year and years, the four kingdoms prospered, until one year, the Kingdom of Hiem began to fall after a plague hurt most of their magic community. They resorted to aid from other countries until the kingdom of Sol had started a war with Aki. In turn, Hiem had to send off healthy men and women to fight for Sol to get back supplies for the weak.

One day, the king of Hiem, the wintry land, died and left his throne to his heir, his only son. While in the midst of training to become a king, the other king of Sol took the opportunity to strike back and tried to take Hiem along with Aki. The heir of Hiem, tired of seeing people die, called for a peace treaty to settle disputes. Sadly, the king of Sol despised that idea, bitter that the young ruler would ask for such a blasphemous thing. To answer his question, the evil king sent his son to the Hiem kingdom to fight with the new, young ruler.

It was then that the new king of Hiem met his fate that would continue through centuries.

  


**08.**

The next few days went by in a flash. Everyone found their pieces to bring to the table easily, but it didn’t come without saying that a force like one they never seen before was approaching. The weather was beginning to shift dramatically, their magic slowly transitioning from season to season. The others grew a little weaker, but Baekhyun and Chanyeol grew stronger, even got closer over time.

On the day they collected all the items, they celebrated by having a small dinner at Baekhyun’s place, gathering all of the items there. When the friends left, Baekhyun sat, thinking.

“Wow,” the young man said, looking over his collection of items. “We actually did it, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol closed the curtain he was looking through and walked over to the other young man in the room. With a huge smile on his face, Chanyeol looked over, “We did it. I’m really surprised I didn’t kill me along the way, Baekhyun, because you were such a pain in my ass. I never thought-”

 “Shut up,” Baekhyun said, standing up to push him. “You know, you were an even bigger pain to deal with.”

 Chanyeol held up his hands, playing fire between fingers like a coin in a magic trick. “Can’t say you’re wrong.”

All of the items they collected shined brightly when Baekhyun glanced back over to them.

“I’ll get my memories back,” Baekhyun said, looking at his open hands. He grabbed the silver goblet his dad used to own, feeling power surge in and out of him. He was surprised how he never noticed it before, after what happened when he was younger.

Before his powers activated, he walked through life without colors. The world seemed pretty gray compared to his childhood. Like when he was with his father constantly telling him fairy-tales, or rather history, of his people, the Mimics.

Baekhyun placed the item back down and gripped the ring that hung around his neck, fitting it on and off his left hand. Chanyeol led Baekhyun back to the chairs and they sat down together, leaning on one another. Chanyeol held Baekhyun’s hand, pulling it towards his body. After being in the cold for so long, Baekhyun felt some tension ease out of his body after Chanyeol’s touch warmed him up. Baekhyun always loved when he did that, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

Then he looked over at Chanyeol, who was busy texting someone. Baekhyun knew Chanyeol had great abilities and endless potential, but what if they messed up? What if the mirror in his dreams remained cracked? What if he couldn’t remember his friends, his family? Chanyeol?

A single tear fell from Baekhyun’s eye and he wiped it away but Chanyeol looked after Baekhyun took a deep breath and sniff loudly.

“Baekhyun?” he said, “Is everything okay? Are you alright?”

Baekhyun nodded, but tears began to fall faster, his breath increasing. After he bit his lip, trying to hold back Baekhyun choked out, “Yeah.”

A light flickered in the room and Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun by the shoulders, but Baekhyun shrugged him off.

“No, you’re obviously not. What are you thinking of? You? Your dad? What?”

Then they were plunged into darkness. The sudden change frightened Baekhyun and he momentarily stopped breathing. He felt around, wanting to find something to anchor him down.

When they made contact, Baekhyun cried silently and hugged Chanyeol. Magic seeped out while Baekhyun cried, making them glisten dimly in the dark like aquamarine gems on display. The tears that fell off his round cheeks and chin hung in the air, illuminating Baekhyun’s room. It was like he was a mirror himself, crying glass, like his broken memories seeping out, waiting to find something to truly shine with. It was like Chanyeol was his sun, lighting up his world when he couldn’t produce any light, when he needed warmth and not the cold that came with his own light.

Chanyeol’s own magic seeped out, colliding with Baekhyun’s and making the blues stand out more against the white walls. Tears multiplied like a chandelier shattered in the room and highlighted the blue fire Chanyeol was emitting. The fire swirled around his head slowly, crawling like a dragon right before he took flight, and took shape of a blue halo. It was blue, and Baekhyun sensed how strong the fire was, how hot.

Baekhyun gazed into Chanyeol’s eyes.

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“It will,” Chanyeol said, pulling Baekhyun in close, holding the back of his head. He stroked his raven hair and gripped the back of Baekhyun’s coat. “I’ll make sure it will.”

Baekhyun pushed himself back a bit and watched Chanyeol’s face switch from emotion to emotion. He had gotten to know him well enough to realize the twitch in his left eyebrow meant he was angry, that the slight droop of his lips meant he was disgusted, and that the pulsing glow in his eye meant his heart was beating, whether for good or for worse.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun said, waiting and exhaling when the frown washed away, happy to tell that his own smile return.

Chanyeol almost scoffed, “Of course. Why wouldn’t I do my best to help you?”

“Well,” Baekhyun said, “I was really a dick to you when we met.”

Baekhyun waited for a response. Chanyeol was expressionless and looked around to see the fragments of their magic drifting in space together.

“What?” Baekhyun prodded.

“I was just thinking.”

“Of what?”

“Of you.”

Baekhyun blushed. “Me?”

“Yeah, when we first met. I remember you, that moment, so well.”

Baekhyun looked down, closing his eyes. He fidgeted with his ring again. “I don’t. I haven’t been able to remember for a week now. It’s that damn curse.”

Baekhyun could feel his eyes stinging again. He tilted his head up to Chanyeol, faking a smile. Baekhyun always tried to make light of any situation, but it was so draining for him recently. He could feel his smile quickly slip away.

Then, Chanyeol grabbed one of the fragments floating in the air and held it towards Baekhyun. It was slightly pulsating, a little marble of emotions. “Take it.”

Baekhyun reached out, hesitating. When he touched it, he saw a glimpse of his past, a simple day he spent with his mother and father at the beach and let go. When he did, it began to shatter, turning to dust that floated back into Baekhyun. Chanyeol pointed to Baekhyun’s chest.

“You have all of your memories inside you. We just need to rearrange the pieces. That’s what I read in the book at least.”

“You’ve been putting yourself in danger so often to help me, Chanyeol. I can’t explain it because I really suck at words, but you really do mean a lot to me.”

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s cheek suddenly, moving his thumb up and down Baekhyun’s soft skin. “I’d say the same for you.”

Baekhyun leaned into his touch. And held his hand onto Chanyeol’s other hand. Chanyeol moved his hand down Baekhyun’s cheek and Baekhyun felt his heartbeat increase. They said nothing as they both leaned closer and closer to each other. A slight wipe across Baekhyun’s lips was enough to make him stop breathing. Chanyeol was so close to him. Baekhyun began to pull back, afraid to feel anymore that what he had been feeling for Chanyeol, but he stopped. The world stopped.

Chanyeol’s lips pressed against Baekhyun and the fragments left the room silently, swirling above the two young men like the Milky Way. As the light disappeared, so did the worry in Baekhyun. He grabbed Chanyeol’s hair in his one hand tenderly, and only felt warmer and warmer.

At that moment, Baekhyun felt like he could take on the spell, the enemies lurking around the corner, but he knew he couldn’t do it alone.

But what Baekhyun didn’t know was the last page to his story, and that his ending might not be as happy as he the fairy tales he heard when he was younger.

A text broke the moment between the two and as he read the message, all the blood from his face drowned out of his already fair skin.

On the screen, Minseok texted, “They’re here.”

           

 

**01.**

“And a dragon whooshed over the kingdom of Hiem and spewed fire all across the kingdom,” Baekhyun’s father said to him, “and down came the rain, casted down by the king.”

A fit of giggles filled the tiny apartment living room when the father zoomed towards his son and lifted him in the air. The laugh made the father smile, making him happy to see young son laughing in such a terrible world.

Baekhyun’s father knew the world might seem like such a magical place, or could later on in his life, but he knew of the struggles his child would face. House Ver was on the defensive for House Hiem because of recent accusations, causing unrest between Councils. Ver normally stayed quiet, keeping to themselves, but Baekhyun’s father heard news that a young boy that resembled the history of the Legend of Hiem was finally reincarnated.

“The king of Hiem lowered his hands,” the father said, lowering his son down simultaneously.

“Every living soul in the kingdom rejoiced when the dragon flew away. A celebration was held the next day with the finest Mimics gathering from all across the land. One of the most powerful Mimic gifted the king a goblet on the fifth day of celebration, the day of the king’s birthday.”

Baekhyun stared in awe at his father from where he sat in his lap. His black hair was tousled softly across his forehead and his plaid red pajamas were just a size too large for him. The boy heard this story at least a hundred times from his father, one of the father’s personal favorites because good triumphed over evil. Each night Baekhyun’s father filled his son’s curiosity of the old days when magic ruled the world, and each time Baekhyun asked his father when he would get his powers, hoping one day to save his own kingdom. His father could only smile back.

            “What next? Isn’t there more?” Baekhyun asked. His father stared at the table before them with a large book full of stories, history of the past he wanted more than anything to be true for his son, but he knew it couldn’t be.

“War.”

Baekhyun paused, a happy face turning to one of confusion. “War?”  
           

“Yes,” he said, pulling Baekhyun tighter, “war.”

 “Why?”

 “Greed.”

“Greed? What’s greed?” Candlelight flickered in Baekhyun’s eyes.

“People wanting more and more and more, but don’t worry. The war had been over for thousands of years. The kingdoms are gone, but the Houses remain. There’s-”

“Sol, Aki, Hiem, and Ver!” Baekhyun shouted, the blanket on his hack falling to the ground with his hands shooting up, almost knocking over the small coffee table full of candles.

“Careful, Baekhyun,” his father said, “We need the light to see. Do you hear the storm outside? We lost electricity.”

 “Yeah, I hear the booms,” he said, looking at the candles. “Don’t worry, if I knock over the candles, I can be the light!”

The father smiled wide, knowing already how true that statement was. “But we don’t want to summon a dragon with all that fire now, do we?

Baekhyun shook his head. “You’d make them go away, right? Like the king!”

“I could-” he began to say, but a knock on the doorway behind them made the two whip their heads around.

“Dear,” Baekhyun’s mother said, appearing in the light, “We talked about this. And the powers back on so you can blow out the candles.”

The woman flicked on the light to reveal a room full of old books and items like candles, a silver goblet, and a stuffed dragon. They all called it the living room, but really it was the study of Baekhyun’s father. Before walking any further in the room, Baekhyun’s mother scowled at her husband.

“It’s all a fairytale, Baekhyun,” his mother said, motioning for him to go to her. “And it’s time for bed.”

The father stood up from his place on the floor, blowing out the candles, taking hold of Baekhyun. “I’ll tuck him in.”

“We talked about this,” the mother said, pleading in between the time it took to hand Baekhyun over to the other. “Please.”

Ignoring her, the father and son walked to Baekhyun’s room, holding him to make it seem like he was flying.

Baekhyun yawned, tired from a night of storytelling. His father tucked him in neatly in his dragon themed bed sheets and turned on his nightlight that had cuts in it to make stars appear on the ceiling. Baekhyun hated the dark.

“All ready to head to dreamland?” his father said.

“Yeah! I’m ready to fight that dragon!”

“Not yet, you aren’t. In a few years maybe,” the father said with a wink. “Just maybe.”

His eyelids were heavy when Baekhyun heard the rest of the story from his father. He talked about how kings continued to rule the land after the celebration of the first king, how they made it possible to bless people with magic thanks to the king’s magic mirror. The mirror gave him the objects related to the times of the year, which granted people with magic an activator of sorts to release their magic. The objects were duplicated thanks to the mirror, and eventually the world was filled with variations of those objects after the first king’s set. Baekhyun’s father left the room for a moment and returned with a small leather bag.

“Baekhyun, would you like to do a magic ceremony?” his father ask as Baekhyun’s eyelids kept falling, his head nodding to the side from sleepiness.

“Sure.”

The father then took out four items from his bag. A feather quill, a conch shell, a ring made of wood, and then the father’s precious silver goblet.

“Pick one,” the father said after laying them down before Baekhyun.

Baekhyun picked the item that stood out the most to him: his father’s goblet. The boy looked at it, holding the large object with his tiny hands. He gave a little giggle after seeing his reflection in the metal.

As Baekhyun grew more tired, his father kept telling the story long after Baekhyun dreamt of fighting dragons in the time when magic was abundant.

“You’ll do great one day, and I might not be here,” the father said, taking the goblet from his child. He meant to finish the little ceremony, telling Baekhyun he has to use the object to fully get his powers, but he could do that tomorrow. “But you will do great things, and I’ll be so proud of you, Baekhyun.”

A smile disappeared from his face. “Now may be the worst time for someone like you to get powers, let alone the destiny you hold. I’ve studied the patterns in history, I know who you might become, might be. It’s inevitable. It’s fate.”

Baekhyun’s father stroked Baekhyun’s face gently as not to wake him. “Just don’t lose yourself. Be strong. Be brave. Find your own reflection.”

A buzz from his phone made the father stand up and leave the child’s room. As he stood to turn off the lights he saw his phone blowing up with messages about how a House was starting to stir up trouble in the magic world.

“Already?” he said, answering the phone after it rang a few times. “Alright. I’ll be there soon. Just let me write something for my wife.”

When Baekhyun woke the next morning, he found his mother sitting at the kitchen table with a paper crumpled in her hands and tears running down her face.

“Where’s dad?” Baekhyun asked, his dark eyes doe-eyed and innocent.

His mother only cried harder.

  


**04.**

The chill of the cafe made Baekhyun’s salty tears feel warm as more made his cheeks glisten in the darkness that was taking hold of him. Despite the temperature being below freezing, Baekhyun stood up slowly, feeling his legs ache from a long day at work, and walked out the cafe door into the cold New York City streets.

With a click, the door locked behind him and he reached in his pocket to get his phone. _His phone_.

“Shit,” Baekhyun said, turning around and peering into the empty cafe. All of the lights were completely off with Minseok nowhere in sight. “What do I do? What do I _do_?”

He knew his boss would be asleep, Minseok never stays up late unless he absolutely had to, and he had to keys to the front. Baekhyun leaned his head against the cold glass and kept staring at his phone. A few times names popped up on the screen with text notifications, then a call. Baekhyun could only stare, his breath fogging up part of his vision. He wanted to kick the glass and open the door, but he knew Minseok would kill him. He’d probably get fired too.

“He’d probably kick my ass and throw me out the back door if he found out I broke in,” Baekhyun said. Then it clicked. The back door.

Baekhyun ran in the rain to the side alley connecting the stores behind the cafe and the cafe together. Trash cans lined the brick walls and wind blew around scraps of paper as the rain continued to pour down. At this point Baekhyun thought he could skip taking a shower, laughing at himself for getting in this situation again. When he reached the door after pushing aside wooden boxes and an old bicycle that Minseok refused to throw out because of its “aesthetic,” Baekhyun found the brick in the wall next to the door that kept the key hidden. He crouched down to the ground and counted the bricks to find the right one, lucky to be able to see in the dark. His frozen hands ached but he was able to pry his thin finger through a crack to pop out the brick. It landed with a thud and Baekhyun reached in the gap, trying to see if he could feel the metal key.

“Thank god,” Baekhyun exclaimed when he pulled out the key, dust and who know what else, flying around. He coughed a few times and waved his hand, inspecting the key. It was labeled with the address number of the cafe and Baekhyun relaxed his shoulders as he pushed the key into the slot of the back door.

 _Click_.

The familiar smell of coffee and flowers rushed by Baekhyun as he pulled the metal door open and held the key in his hand. Upon contact with the door, Baekhyun felt a shift in temperature. It grew at least twenty degrees colder even though it was already frigid outside. Baekhyun shivered and continued inside.

“Guess Minseok doesn’t keep the heat on that high at night,” Baekhyun thought to himself.

Searching for the lightswitch near the side of the door, Baekhyun entered quietly and tried to keep the door pried open with his foot behind him. While stretching his legs apart to reach further along the wall of the thin back hallway, Baekhyun slipped from the water pooling on the floor. When he fell, he grabbed onto anything he could- a stack of newspapers on the counter they put out for customers to buy, boxes of cup holders, cabinet handles, even a flower pot Minseok was painting on to later pot one of his hanging plants- making papers fly and objects fall with a loud crash. The key clinked against the floor, echoing throughout the cafe.

He slammed against the tiles, the door closing shut just as fast. Baekhyun rested on the ground, trying to process how the ground reached his face so quickly.

His eyes slowly moved from the floor to the opening separating the cafe to the back room to the break room door. As he scanned the space, he noticed how the water pooled near his face began to freeze over. Small crystalline objects pointed outwards from the small body of water, only coating the edges. They glowed blue and Baekhyun watched as the small crystals exploded with no sound, only to float upwards in hundreds of tiny snowflakes. Frost began to take over any ounce of water there was on the floor or on the room. Even the tips of Baekhyun’s dark, red hair began to freeze.

Little explosion after little explosion, Baekhyun only could stare with his mouth open. Each snowflake swirled up towards the ceiling and once enough cover half of it, the floated towards the breakroom where quiet chatter could still be heard.

The break room glowed a light blue, with light leaking through the tiny space between the door and the wall. As Baekhyun tried to focus on it, he noticed how it flickered, how it got brighter when his head began to stop spinning as hard from the crash. Baekhyun tried to move his head around and lift himself up, tiny crystals hitting the ground and splitting into millions of pieces after drops of water fell from his hair.

“Must be my cat, Tan,” a quiet voice sighed beyond the door. “She always makes a mess in the back room.”

Two laughs echoed throughout the cafe, one deep, the other higher pitched.

Baekhyun finally could lift himself up all the way, his limbs burning as he pushed, and he peered into the room. Two figures stood face to face, but with the way they stood, Baekhyun could only recognize the man standing closer to him. It was easy to see he had that familiar shade of green in his hair hidden behind a thin veil of snow.

“Minseok,” Baekhyun tried to say, struggling to get syllables out, “Minseok? Is that you?”

With a quick pivot of his feet, Minseok turned around. Baekhyun watched his friend’s cat shaped eyes grow wide. Instantly, the veil and every other particle of snow or ice vanished.

“Baekhyun?”

Eyes pointed to the ground, Baekhyun nodded. He pulled his legs closer to him and felt warmth return to his body. His teeth were chattering, and the tips of his skin turned a light blue.

“What- what’s wrong with the heat in h-here?” Baekhyun asked, still looking up at the ceiling like the snow was still there, like it belonged there.

As Minseok shifted his position, Baekhyun could finally see the the figure behind him. It was a man he had never seen before in his life. He had black hair that transitioned into lighter brown pushed to the side and dark brown eyes under a pair of thick rimmed glasses. He was slightly taller than Minseok, but no taller than Baekhyun, who stood only a few inches above Minseok.

 “Oh my god, are you okay?” Minseok said, rushing to Baekhyun’s side and putting his hand over his forehead. “You’re not hurt, are you? I could’ve sworn Tan pushed more papers over. And your skin is freezing!”

Baekhyun slowly nodded, mumbling, “I think I am?”

His clothing was dripping again as it thawed. Baekhyun moved his arm up and looked at his hands and said, “It was so cold.”

“Minseok, is this the coworker you were talking about?” the stranger said. Minseok nodded.

“Yeah, this is him,” he said, helping Baekhyun stand up, taking Baekhyun to a seat in the room.

“What are you talking about?” Baekhyun asked, looking from Minseok to the stranger. “And what are you doing in our cafe?”

“This is Junmyeon,” Minseok said, pointing to the other man. “He’s here to help me out with something. Something that involves you actually.”

“What does it have to do with me? Oh my god, am I fired? I just wanted to get my phone,” Baekhyun said, holding his throbbing head in his hands.

“Should I tell him?” Minseok inquired.

“Yeah,” Junmyeon said, “If he’s the one who you’ve been talking about.”

Baekhyun listened to the two bicker for a while before standing up, gripping the table to steady himself. “Really though, if this could wait until tomorrow, I’ll be starting my shift at nine in the morning and you can talk then. I really don’t even think I’m in reality right now. I’m dreaming, or some shit like that, and I really just want to sleep. My boyfriend just broke up with me and I have no idea why I just saw Santa’s winter wonderland in the back of the cafe I work at, so please.”

He began to move before Minseok grabbed his arm. “Wait, you really need to hear this now.”

Minseok cleared his throat. “And you might want to sit back down.”

Baekhyun glared at his boss, not caring if he got fired anymore. He should’ve broken down the door.

“Well, you saw the magic we used” Minseok confessed, “And we think you’re one too.”

“One what, exactly,” Baekhyun retorted, thinking back to when he was young. When he believed magic was real. “A magician? A Mimic? A-”

“Yes!” Junmyeon chimed in, “How do you know about Mimics?”

His jaw almost dropped to the floor. “You’ve gotta be kidding, right? Now I’m really dreaming. Did you break in? Did you really break in my house and look at my stuff Minseok? Because I don’t know how _you_ guys know about that either.”

“We didn’t,” Minseok said, “It’s real. This is reality for us. For you too, it seems. What House are you in? Are you in Ver? Please say you’re in Ver.”

Baekhyun’s head was really swirling now. Flashes back to his childhood took over his vision. His father’s face was almost scratched out from him memory, like it was cracked in a mirror. Baekhyun only heard broken words and saw clips of books and items his father showed him when he was younger. Half of the things he saw were cracked in sight.

“I- I don’t know,” he said, gripping his hair. “I don’t think my dad was.”

“It doesn’t matter what House your family was in,” Junmyeon said, “But it could have an influence.”

“I think,” Baekhyun said, racking his brain to remember what his father told him. Then he remembered the stuffed dragon he had in his room.

“He told me a story about a king with a dragon,” Baekhyun said. “God, what were the names.”

Minseok and Junmyeon leaned in closer to Baekhyun, sweat beginning to become evident on their foreheads.

“Heir?” Baekhyun asked. “Hill? Hiem? Was it Hiem?”

“Yes!” Minseok and Junmyeon shouted at the same time.

“Oh, wait,” Minseok said. “This changes things.”

The shoes squeaked on the damp floor as Junmyeon paced over to Baekhyun, holding his shoulder. “Baekhyun, what is your last name?”

“Byun.”

“And is your father missing?”

The floor felt like it was dropped underneath him as Baekhyun connected the dots. “This is real, isn’t it?”

The two other men nodded with somber stares.

“Do you know my father? Where he is?” Baekhyun tried to stand again but fell to his knees. “Please, don’t leave me in the dark.”

Baekhyun gripped the jeans Junmyeon was wearing, and felt his heart tighten. “Please, I hate the dark,” he whispered.

“Baekhyun, do you not know what happened with your father?”

Silence was his response.

“He’s,” Minseok said, choking up himself, “He’s gone Baekhyun. He passed years ago.”

All Baekhyun could do was go blank. His grip loosened, and his hands fell to the ground. His legs collapsed under him and his eyes could only focus on the wooden floor in front of him.

“Baekhyun,” Junmyeon said, “You’re a Mimic.”

Then his world went out as quickly as a candle being blown out by a summer storm.

  


**05.**

Baekhyun woke up an hour later in Minseok’s room, upstairs from the cafe he owned. He pushed off the sheets and made his way to the living space, where a television was playing late night news.

“Hey,” Baekhyun said, rubbing his head. “Sorry about that, I was really overwhelmed.”

Waving his hand, Minseok turned around, and smiled at Baekhyun.

“No, don’t be sorry,” Junmyeon said, walking in with a tray of tea, “We should be apologizing. Looks like you went through hell and back.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said, grabbing a cup and sipping the calming liquid. “I just really can’t believe it. How do you guys know?”

“The news. Or rather the Mimic’s news. Nulls don’t know about what’s been going in in the last decade or so but recently, a guy has been stirring up things in the community.”  
           

“Nulls?” Baekhyun asked. Curling up on the couch perpendicular to the one chair Minseok was sitting on.

“Non-Mimic people,” Junmyeon said, “Those without magic.

“And I’m not one of them. Wow, I guess my dad really wasn’t crazy.”

“Crazy?” Minseok asked.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said, “My mom always said he thought the fairytales were real, and that I shouldn’t listen to the stories. I guess she didn’t want me to be involved in this mess that’s been going on.”

“Many parents do that to save their kids the trouble,” Minseok said, muting the television. Junmyeon sat next to Minseok, looking over Baekhyun.

“It’s how there’s only a few thousand of us left in the world,” Minseok continued, “We’re spread around the globe too, so it’s really hard to figure out what’s going on since everyone has been so secretive lately. I haven’t even heard from my sister in months because of the war, what it really should be called. The Houses Hiem and Sol are at it yet again.”

“What Houses are you guys in?”

"Ver,” Minseok said, “Both of us. Many Ver live in this timezone in the United States. It’s rare to see a Hiem like you living in this area. Normally you guys are more located in Korea, where most of the magic community seems to be these days.”

“So,” Baekhyun said, “I’m in Hiem. But what do I have to do with any of this war that seems to be going on?”

“Well, you aren’t really in calm territory. Sol has slowly been making their way over from Europe and coming to this city to find someone. He’s part of Hiem too, but he’s a special case.”

“How so?”

“He’s a half-Mimic.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Aren’t I one? My mother never used powers.”

“She had them but may not have used them to protect you. If she didn’t, we’d hear more about you too. This guy everyone is after is important because of an unbalanced he causes in the world. I think it’s bullshit how they’re coming after him- all he’s done is just exist and be rumored to be super powerful.”

“And the legend,” Junmyeon said, sipping his tea. Minseok shot him a glare which was replied with a shrug from Junmyeon.

“That’s bullshit, too,” Minseok objected. “No one’s seen this happen in centuries. Why would it happen now?”

“What legend?” Baekhyun asked, shifting his body towards the men. Baekhyun knew he heard the story of the first king and some random stories about Hiem and his father’s own adventures probably, but not much of a specific legend with a half-Mimic.

“I don’t remember much about my father anymore, but I do know I don’t recall any legends about that. This doesn’t deal with me though, right?”

“It might,” Junmyeon said through the elbow to the rib hit Minseok did. “Only time will tell. We actually might find out the answer soon. Tomorrow actually. That’s why I’m here. I actually have been housing the half-Mimic.”

The tea almost fell from his hands. “What?”

“Yeah, and we need you to meet him,” Junmyeon said. “It’s only my speculation, but from your family history-”

“My family history? How do you even know about me? I’m some lousy college senior just trying to become someone with a stable job and an owner of a dog.”

“My father. He’s part of the Ver Council. Your dad was part of the Hiem council. They got along very well. We almost met once when we were younger, but I couldn’t visit last minute. I guess your mom was trying to protect you from even little kids with magic.”

If Baekhyun was confused about his past already, he was completely lost now.

“It might be very likely you’re the other lover from the legend,” Junmyeon said.

“Lover?” Baekhyun laughed, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders.  “I’m gonna be in love with that guy? I don’t need any more drama in my life. What if I don’t want to meet him? What if I really don’t really want to be a Mimic?”

“You’ll meet him, yeah, whether you want to or not,” Minseok sighed, “As for the love, basically it happens every time. If this legend is really true, that is. And it looks like you already have a form of absque reflexione. It’s a forgetting curse only Mimics who don’t complete their birth year choice get. You seem to not remember your father well, so that’s a big hint. The original had that issue too, eventually.”

“And he’s staying here,” Junmyeon motioned around the room. “So, the chances are really high you’ll see him anyways.”

Baekhyun set his empty cup down and crossed his legs on the couch, folding his arm. In love? With a total stranger? Who’s a reincarnation of a legend that he also might be involved in? Baekhyun didn’t believe in love at first sight, and he wasn’t going to let this other man ruin his chances with his old boyfriend. They were on a “break,” or at least that’s what Baekhyun wanted to call it. It seemed selfish, but Baekhyun already had enough tragedy in his life, he didn’t want more.

If the story wasn’t already annoying enough, Minseok twiddled his thumbs before dropping another bomb on him. “And he’s working here.”

“No way,” the redhead said, rubbing his temples.

“It’s true,” Junmyeon said.

And then Baekhyun stormed out the door, back into the winter night.

***

As much as Baekhyun wasn’t ready to say he was over his past relationship with Kyungsoo, he really wanted to just run back to him after hearing that crazy story. They’d been together for around three years, so it was hard just not having him in his life anymore. He missed the late-night talks, the late-night cuddles. They were never too serious about their relationship, though. They never really kissed each other, as touchy as they were with each other. Baekhyun sometimes felt like he was being used, but then again, Baekhyun thought he was doing the same thing. He just needed someone to listen to his tragic story, and Kyungsoo happened to listen.

Everything happened out of the blue. The first meeting at college, the breakup text Kyungsoo sent, saying he was “too busy” to continue the relationship. It was like magic.

Baekhyun gave a weak laughed that echoed through the New York alleyway he walked through. He made the short walk from the cafe to Bryant Park, sitting down on a bench. He curled his arms around his knees and watched as snow began to coat the cement and his black clothes in a layer of crystalline dust. A little laugh left him again as he remembered the snow Minseok created a mere few hours ago.

Magic. It was a word that filled his nightmares and reality. First his father’s disappearance, miracuously meeting Kyungsoo, the little moments that Baekhyun thought were too good to be true, actually now realizing it might be because of powers he has? It had to be magic of some kind. Nothing ever really made sense to Baekhyun, he guessed he was lucky to have a happy go lucky attitude, but there were sometimes that just never sat well with him. Especially now, thinking his now ex would show up if he texted him in the middle of the night asking for him to visit. He knew better than that though. Kyungsoo would never want to see him again after the fight they had.

What Baekhyun wanted more than anything else in that moment was stability, or even someone else like Kyungsoo was to him before. Someone who he could even say “I love you” too and know he’d hear it back. Guess he didn’t really mind a reincarnated soulmate that had magical powers that he only just realized were true a few hours ago. He’d have someone to relate too in all this mess.

Even in the below freezing temperatures, Baekhyun sat there for a couple hours- definitely some time past midnight- waiting. Tears came eventually. He never cried this much in his life, even after he lost his first pet dog that he had for many years of his life. He wiped his tears away quickly, ashamed of himself for feeling so despairing. He had his mother, granted she wasn’t in the best condition as well, a good job, semi-passing grades in college. He now even had a soulmate if he wanted. But it wasn’t really what he wanted. He wanted to be able to choose his own future, not some pre-designed one that seemed to guarantee stress. Although he made some huge mistakes with his own choices, at least they were his own.

Too bad it wasn’t warm enough to rain to hide his tears.

Baekhyun cupped his hands around his mouth when his breathing calmed down and his eyes felt sore. He wanted to leave, but he was stuck in place mentally and physically. Memories he did have, or at least though he had, of Kyungsoo were becoming as fuzzy as the ones of his father. Every important person in his life seemed to be as easily cleared from his memory like a piece of trash being swept away by a street cleaner. He blew warm air in his hands.

The images he did remember were like the ads of billboards in Times Square a few blocks away from him. Colorful rays passed through the bare branches and across the glass windows of the skyscrapers around him. Baekhyun could only see their faint glow, but it was something to hold onto in the fairly dark city.

“The kind of fucking city that never sleeps,” Baekhyun bitterly scoffed, noticing how empty it really was around him. Save a few birds that were crazy enough to be roaming around, the park was cleared from any form of life. Many of the trees lost their leaves long ago and the park’s temporary ice skating rink wasn’t blasting the Christmas tunes it normally did at night. Brief car engines revved loud enough to he caught by Baekhyun’s ears, but otherwise, it was quiet too.

“Pathetic,” he said. Whether he wanted to direct that at the city or himself more, he would never know.

Baekhyun almost jumped out of his skin when a voice faintly replied to his remark.

“I wouldn’t say pathetic. It’s more like lonely.”

Baekhyun turned to the sound, to the right of him, and say a tall man in a dark, long, wool coat and one of those hats with the stupid ear flaps and fuzz ball on top. The dark eyes of the stranger startled Baekhyun and he broke eye contact almost immediately.

“What makes you say that?” Baekhyun muttered, not expecting a reply.

“Intuition,” the young man said, taking his coat off. “You’re not the first person I’ve seen heartbroken right before the holidays. I know how it feels. Your eyes looked a little dull.”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in disbelief. He would’ve said his eyes looked like a planet that imploded on itself with the pieces put back together by a really shit quality glue.

Baekhyun pulled the cap he grabbed before he left down and pulled the scarf he wore up to block his mouth. The stranger almost scared Baekhyun again when he reached his jacket out towards Baekhyun, motioning for him to take it, but Baekhyun didn’t want pity at that moment.

“I have nothing to give you,” Baekhyun said, “Unless you want a broken phone that I don’t even have on me right now.”

Baekhyun flipped out his empty pockets for emphasis. The man chuckled, Baekhyun realizing just how deep his voice was.

“Honestly, here, use my coat. You’ll freeze.”

“Don’t need it, thanks,” Baekhyun said, trying to push out words from his still choked up throat. He moved the stranger’s hand away, feeling the other man’s warm skin against his own. As their hands touched briefly, a feeling like a sweet latte moving down his throat into his stomach coursed through his body. It was a semi-nostalgic feeling, making his vision go in and out again. He really wanted to go to a doctor to get his head checked out.

The stranger held out his pale hand firmly, the long coat hanging off his hand, collecting tiny snowflakes. “I’ll be fine, trust me.”

If not a concussion, Baekhyun felt like he was dreaming again since his line of sight was thinning. Exhaustion finally was setting in. His eyelids began to flutter as he lost feeling in his body and realizing how blurry the young man was right in front of him. It almost looked like a crown or halo was hanging above his head. Baekhyun tried to make one last comment before the stranger fully caught his body with his one arm.

In the background, Baekhyun could hear his name being called. He guessed Minseok and Junmyeon thought something happened and went out to look for him, and so he surrendered to the sleep looming over him.

 

 

 

**02.**

“Baekhyun,” his mother yelled, “Go to your room!”

The two boys went without even acknowledging Baekhyun’s mother, but they were too late because the Mimics rushed around them as fast as a gust of wind. They couldn’t even move five steps away.

Cloaked stranger after stranger entered the room, taking hold of Baekhyun, his mother, and Chanyeol. Baekhyun was pulled away from his mother and the other boy, his arms held in place by two strangers. Baekhyun’s mother stood her ground, fighting against their grip. She fell, her knees slamming against the hardwood floor and her legs were consumed by the floor itself. The wood untwisted to form branches that made a cage around her, leaves a small added touch to block her view.

“No!” Baekhyun yelled. He tried to break free, pulling and pushing against the captors with all his might. Chanyeol also struggled after a blindfold was placed on him. Fire began to form at his fingertips and Baekhyun watched as the fire stayed a bright blue, an extreme temperature Baekhyun did not want to mess with.

“Now, dear,” a woman with dark gray hair said entering the room, closing the door behind her, “We don’t want the whole building and your new friend here to go down in flames now do we?”

She gave a crooked smile filled with even more crooked teeth.

Baekhyun saw Chanyeol stop struggling, and Baekhyun copied his friend, afraid to also cause damage to those he cared about. Then, Baekhyun felt the cold darkness of the room begin to distort his vision. The only things allowing him to see were the momentary flashes of lighting from the storm outside.

Between the lightning, Baekhyun tried to crane his neck to see those holding him hostage through his long bangs. One the right side of the chest, each cloak had embroidery done resembling a sun with an unknown language circling around it. In the middle, a cursive “Sol” stood out in black thread against the golden thread in the sun.

“Sol?” Baekhyun whispered, eyes growing wide.

While Baekhyun tried to connect dots to the stories Baekhyun heard from his father, his mother spit in the direction of the woman who entered.

“Get the hell out of my house, you bitch,” Baekhyun’s mother said.

“And why would I do that?” she questioned back, laughing, “I’ll only be here another moment. I heard rumors I just couldn’t wait to hear the answers for.”

“What do you want from my family? You know this isn’t your territory and I can have other Mimics on you in seconds if you slip.”

“I’m fully aware this is a Hiem household. I could feel the aura as I walked in. Clever young woman you are, putting down a no-magic zone spell for other houses. You’re lucky I only have a Hiem healer with me today.”

The very young man holding Baekhyun’s mother captive, bowed down to her, “I’m sorry, Haesoo. They took my father, too. Councilman Zhang. I’m being held captive until this is over. I can help you when she’s done.”

Baekhyun’s mother shook her head in disbelief. So many of them were taken or injured, and for what?

“Oh, don’t worry, dear, I don’t need you and your boy just yet. Just that little one over there,” the woman said, pointing to Chanyeol.

“You’ve heard the news, right?” the leader asked, twirling her gray locks in her wrinkled hand. “He might be someone from the Legend.”

The poor boy was thrust forward, released from his captor’s grip. Without them, though, he felt around frantically for support. Chanyeol, after a moment, stood still, head hanging low in defeat.

“My, I’m sure you heard about this too,” the gray-haired lady said, directing her gaze at Baekhyun. “Your father loved to talk, especially about you.”

Baekhyun’s mother shook her hands against the cage of wood. “Keep his name out of your filthy mouth.”

“I didn’t say anything,” she said, pretending to zip her mouth shut. She then motioned for her minions to bring Baekhyun closer to Chanyeol.

“No!” Baekhyun’s mother yelled. “Don’t hurt him, take me instead! Just don’t hurt the children.”

The woman ignored the mother’s cries and walked up to the boys. She lifted the blindfold off Chanyeol’s head and it vanished. Crouching down, she grabbed their hands, Baekhyun making note of how dry they felt.

Then, their palms were placed on top of one another.

It felt great to feel the warmth again and Baekhyun felt a surge of energy because of the contact. The honey feeling returned, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol only peered into the other’s eyes, looking for clues as to what was going on between them.

That moment was all the woman needed.

Across the room, a band of white and blue spread across the space with the boys as the origin point, rippling like a droplet falling into a still pond. It ricocheted off the walls and blended into the air, leaving a light blue cast upon everyone’s face. This time, the connection felt stronger, and Baekhyun fed his emotions into the moment, almost forgetting that the others were in the room.

“It’s them,” the woman said, staggering backwards.

“Madame,” another figure said stepping out of the crowd, “The teleporter is here now. What shall our next course of action be?”

The leader, still dumbfounded, didn’t realize the tiny plan Chanyeol and Baekhyun made in the midst of her awe. In a second, Baekhyun decided to test to really see if he had powers, not caring for the consequences. He only wanted to save his mom and his new friend.

He pulled Chanyeol towards his mother and held his arms out wide, blocking them from the House Sol members, and released his energy. Emotions flew through his mind, lashing out in wave after wave of bright light. In the form of waves, hope, fear, anger, sadness, hate, and love materialized into the powers that Baekhyun gave off.

Not long after, an explosion of white filled the room, blinding everyone in its path. Quickly following suit, Baekhyun’s mother grabbed her son and the other boy’s hands through the branches. Within a breath, the trio vanished into the night thanks to her unknown teleportation abilities. She didn’t take then too far, tired from being in that magical barrier, but the strange flow through space was enough to make the children black out. The mother also went back for the young man from Hiem, Yixing he was found out to be called, and walked into the Hiem Council building, planning on just what to do with the new information she learned about her son.

While Baekhyun’s mother sorted out what to do with Chanyeol, Baekhyun dreamed about a long, body length mirror in his dreams.  

  


**03.**

Minseok gave Baekhyun a look and quickly rung up a customer who was waiting for their conversation to pause, handing Baekhyun a cup to make a drink. He grabbed the cup and zipped through the process, making sure to wave to Minseok’s cat, Tan, who was chilling on a nearby chair, before calling out the order. Baekhyun smiled at the cat, happy to see she decided to hang around the interior of the cafe. Normally, the cat enjoyed being in the break room behind the chaos of the barista area. It was still nice on his time off to pet the white and grey cat who always purred when her chin was stroked. Minseok kept the cat at the cafe since he was there more than his own apartment, leaving water and food out for the cat. She even became a mascot for the cafe since customers always loved seeing an animal pad across the cafe floor. Tan eventually waltz away and back to her room when Baekhyun walked over to the open counter.

“Caramel macchiato, grande, soy milk,” Baekhyun said, looking around the cafe after placing a lid onto the order. He glanced at the cup and said, “For Alex!”

The customer grabbed the drink and Baekhyun wizzed back around towards his grinning co-worker. He could just tell by the way he was trying to hide his amused smile that he thought Baekhyun was losing it.

“Baekhyun,” Minseok said, “you must’ve caught a fever sitting out in the rain and had a crazy dream.”

“But it seemed so much more than a silly dream!” Baekhyun exclaimed and finished his thought with a flare, looking out the window, clasping his hands together as if praying.

Minseok rolled his eyes in response and pushed back his black hair while organizing the counter in front of him. Baekhyun continued to talk, not caring if his friend would listen. He practically was jumping with excitement.

“I could’ve sworn it was like I was in some honeymoon fantasy, or that I eloped with the man of my dreams in some distant past,” Baekhyun said taking in a big gulp of air, “But I would never because Kyungsoo would kill me.”

“Baekhyun-”

            “And that’s not all,” Baekhyun continued. He walked walking quickly up and down behind the counter, almost taking Minseok out with a stirring spoon when he began to work on another drink. The spoon clanked against the metal container and milk spilled out of the side, although Baekhyun paid it no mind.

“The person walked up to me and held out his hand, but before I could grab it, he pointed behind me, so I turned around, obviously.”

“Baekhyun,” Minseok said, this time louder, trying to be heard over the coffee grinder Baekhyun turned on.

“ _And_ he said, let me tell you he had one hell of a deep voice, but he said that I-”

“Baekhyun,” Minseok said, practically shouting. The older barista looked from Baekhyun to a cup on the counter.

“Oh right,” Baekhyun said out of breath, looking at the cup. “One large iced americano for Quinn.”

Baekhyun gave a wide smile to the customer and then thought back to his dream. “Well, he said that he loved me. It sounds silly, but for as long as I’ve been with Kyungsoo, he’s never said it to me. You know?”

The young man looked over to Minseok, seeing the golden rays of the late afternoon coating his pale skin in a sheen of glitter.

“How have you two been?” Minseok asked, starting to close down the register.

There was a long pause before Baekhyun answered. He wanted to say everything was fine, but they fought recently. Kyungsoo just told him one day that he wanted to move somewhere else than what they were planning, and that his parents didn’t like them being together. It was a whole mess that Baekhyun didn’t need to deal with after his mother got a bad case of pneumonia, making her bed ridden for a while.

Baekhyun decided to not answer, leaving Minseok to raise an eyebrow at him. He didn’t know too much of their relationship, other than that they’ve been together for almost three years, but he did give him good advice and comfort when they hit a rough bump.

“I see,” Minseok said.

When the last customer left for the night, Baekhyun sat down in a chair, wiping sweat off his face.

“Thanks for the help tonight,” Minseok said, wiping the last table down.

 “Of course,” Baekhyun said, pretending to be breathing heavily. “It was- It was a piece of cake.”  
           

Minseok laughed while he threw on his coat. “Will you be okay going home tonight?”

Baekhyun, chest heaving, “Yeah. I’ll be okay.” He looked outside to a world full of rain again.

“You sure? You look pretty winded.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said, waving him off with a smile, “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Minseok said. “I’m gonna hit the lights on my way out. Don’t trip on the chairs. See you tomorrow!”

After Minseok left, Baekhyun stared out the window towards Bryant Park, looking at the bench he always sat on, waiting for Kyungsoo. Finally, when his heart rate was back to normal, the lights went out, one by one, until the sounds of electricity buzzing was replaced by shaking breaths.

Baekhyun held his hands on his knees and felt the room getting colder by the minute. Normally, the cafe was filled with green plants and natural colors like beige and dark brown, but the moon casted a blue hue onto the world. Books lining the shelves looked a few shades darker, the hardwood floor an even deeper shade of cherry red- the metallic outlines of the chairs and coffee machines, too.

The glasses Baekhyun wore today slid down the bridge of his nose and he pushed them up and wiped at his eyes. Despite the world feeling dark, Baekhyun still had some hope in him and decided to text Kyungsoo one more time, typing out a simple message saying "Hey, are you available to talk later? I miss you."

Hitting the send button was hard for him. His finger wavered over the blue send button, his chest rose up and down faster.

Really, they already broke up, with Kyungsoo not responding to messages of any sort, leaving Baekhyun in the dark. It was almost like he dropped off the face of the earth.

He decided against it, and Baekhyun covered his eyes in the nook of his elbow after throwing the phone across the room. The small, old phone fell with a clatter.

It was the first real boyfriend he had. All his life, he was surrounded by people in love. His parents. His friends. Everyone had their someone. Meeting Kyungsoo at school was a blessing.

Thinking back on all of the special memories he shared with him made his eyes sting and his throat swell up again. The wound was slowly reopening and reminded him relentlessly that he failed yet again as a decent human being.

All the times he let Kyungsoo down when he didn’t show up to one of his shows, all the times he never gave back the love he received, all the times he was insensitive to his boyfriend’s needs. And all the times Baekhyun never said “I love you, too” because he was holding a grudge when they were in an argument. But Kyungsoo never really said it back.

With each good memory, he felt as though it was bringing back all the bad ones where he never made it up to Kyungsoo- he felt more like a bad person than anything else.

Then, Baekhyun stood up, deciding it was best to go home after staying up late the night before.

  


**0.5.**

Before the duel between the new king of Hiem and the prince of Sol, the king of Hiem had a lover. This lover was a strong, tall man who happened to be a half-Mimic, someone who was born from a parent who was a Mimic and a Null. In turn, this man had extraordinary powers beyond compare, but it was not his powers that got the attention of the new king.

The commoner had went to the old king of Hiem begging for his sister to not go to war. He was too young at the time to go in her place, or at least with her, and he begged on his knees for hours. The old king did not pity the young man, but the prince did. After the commoner had left the throne room, the prince of Hiem went up to the commoner, excited to hear more of his story, and willing to help him save his sister.

While trying to form a plan, they grew close, fell in love, even pledged to marry after the war was over. The prince was able to fulfill his lover’s wish of saving his sister, but it was his lover’s life that he had put on the line instead.

During the final stage of the fight, the prince of Sol cheated and used members of his Hiem army to fight. That army member being the man that the current king of Hiem loved because his sister could only be saved if they traded places. The new king thought that he would be safe, fighting far away from the battlefront, but it looks like his plan backfired.

The king of Sol said he would release his prisoner, and also surrender his war, if the king of Hiem would allow the prisoner to kill him. The king of Hiem agreed in order to save his lover and was stabbed by the Hiem Mirror that the king of Sol shattered. The item was special to the Mimic community as a whole, but also especially to the Hiem sovereigns.

Houses with Councils were created after the war ceased in order to make the magical communities keep each other in check after the death of the king of Hiem. To make sure that this event would not happen again, the Mimic community collectively decided to only allow pure Mimics get power because half-Mimics severely damaged the land. This new rule took a majority of the Mimic community, the lover included. In the end, he died due to tragic killings that took the lives of half-Mimics, although he was not too far away from dying of heartache.

What went on after the mirror broke forever changed the magic community. Without knowing the consequences, the king of Sol broke the mirror, which then led to the mirror cursing the entire Mimic community to forget those with powers if they do not properly get their Mimic powers. The lover and king, however, were cursed differently but they used the item with good intentions. For the rest of history until they could get their true happy ending, they would be granted reflections of themselves throughout time. Only until the king of Hiem and the lover are able to find peace will their souls be put to rest and the forgetting curse end.

One way that makes the curse known to be real are sightings of the lover and his king with halos of the elements they control with their reincarnations. The stories of the reflections vary, each ending unhappily. What makes a pair truly special is when they are gifted the same powers as the original lovers, the power of fire given to the lover for his endless passion for his king, and light given to the king of Hiem to lead those who are lost in the dark.

  
  
**07.**

One night, Chanyeol decided to head to Baekhyun’s place to help Baekhyun get home after a long day at work. Baekhyun thought he seemed a little ridiculous, but he did stumble a few times, almost falling down after slipping on black ice. New York was easy enough to walk through, but it was one hell of a journey trying to get home in near darkness. Chanyeol offered to use his magic, and his cellphone, but Baekhyun insisted he would be okay and not to draw attention to themselves.

When the duo stumbled in through the front door, with Chanyeol basically holding Baekhyun up, Baekhyun accidentally hit his head of the door frame. Baekhyun grabbed his head and breathed in through closed teeth as Chanyeol shut the door, also taking a moment to stretch as he was the one using more muscle. For being such a skinny looking guy, Baekhyun thought Chanyeol sure was strong.

“I have ice,” Baekhyun said, “Look in the freezer. Bottom drawer. Also get a band aid, I think I’m bleeding. Should have some in that draw there next to the fridge.”

Baekhyun threw a slew of curses into the air when he realized he was actually bleeding and Chanyeol laughed. “Didn’t know you had such a sailor’s mouth.”

The red head walked to the couch across from the kitchen and sunk into the soft fabric. Minseok’s couch was nice, but Baekhyun could feel his bones relax being in familiar territory. With a bag of ice in one hand and a band aid in another.

“Only when I’m annoyed,” Baekhyun said, grabbing a tissue from the end table near him and holding it against his bleeding skin. “I’m such a goddamn klutz.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Chanyeol said holding out the band aid.

“You haven’t known me long enough. Minseok would say the opposite.”

“That’s not what I was told.”

The band aid was quickly put on and Chanyeol held the ice up to Baekhyun’s face. Both the ice and his comment made Baekhyun shrink back. “They talked about me to you?”

“Well, Minseok told Junmyeon who then told me about you. I was staying at House Hiems’s Council House and Junmyeon kept talking about his friend from the city when he visited with his father one day. This was a month ago, probably. I went up to him to learn more because I remembered your name from when I was younger. Turns out we were talking about the same person.”

A blush spread across Baekhyun’s face. Minseok had been planning this for a while, and who knows how much they told of Baekhyun’s past since knowing each other. And that bastard never bothered mentioning anything.

“Oh,” was all Baekhyun could say.

The two sat in silence for a while, examining the wooden floor or the white ceiling until Baekhyun broke the silence.

“What,” Baekhyun softly, “What made you want to see me again? It’s been so many years, but why? What happened?”

Chanyeol slowly let the ice fall, pulling the bag away to check Baekhyun’s injury. “Simply put, you saved me. I don’t know how much you remember, but you really did. It was incredible what powers you have. We hardly knew each other, but your kindness stuck through me throughout the last few years. All this time I’ve been hiding in House Hiem’s headquarters if you will, and whenever I’ve tried to go out, I’d only be met with distaste. Even people in House Hiem were fearful of me. Everyone’s afraid of the bad karma associated with the Legend. No one really helped me until I heard about you again and talked to Junmyeon and Minseok. The memory I had of you really kept me going through tough times. I also wanted to thank you.”

His hands were empty when Baekhyun gripped them tightly, hoping to feel an ounce of magic course through his veins. If this really would be who he was for the rest of his life, he figured he better start learning how to control his powers. The older of the two, Baekhyun, found it hard to believe he even really had powers, or demonstrated great potential as a child. If he did have those powers then, he felt like what he had now wasn’t anything extraordinary. At least that’s what he thought.

“You’re welcome,” Baekhyun said, still unsure of what he did. “You’ll have to tell me about it sometime. Not now though.”

For a while, Baekhyun wondered more about Chanyeol and how he managed to survive all these years. Baekhyun was fortunate to be with his mother, but Baekhyun learned after the boys started talk that he lost his parents to a fire ironically. His father, a Null, had to save his wife that was knocked out by people in House Sol. In the end, Chanyeol was able to live, but was scared from that moment. He explained how every time he used his magic, he would think of his mother, another fire Mimic, and always tried his best to use his magic in the good way, to avoid using it for evil. That fire only happened a few days before Chanyeol met Baekhyun for the first time.

Each story led the boys closer and closer to the past, Chanyeol talking about how he was stupid enough to climb a tree and break an arm trying to sit in a tall tree at his foster parents’ place in South Korea, Baekhyun talking about all the times he and his mother would be able to sneak into musicals at Broadway. Just those moments alone made Baekhyun happy, just talking normally with someone. He forgot all about his troubles with his memory in the magical sense, his demanding course load he would have to worry about next semester, and his stressful times at work. He was acting like Baekhyun.

When Baekhyun’s head felt better, he suggested that the two should eat so they threw a frozen pizza in the oven and started to watch a movie to pass the time to hear back from Minseok about what Baekhyun would be doing tomorrow at work.

Eventually, the two boys sat closer and closer to each other, not realizing their distance was closing up. One reason being Baekhyun was feeling more comfortable around Chanyeol and the other being that Baekhyun was warm. Despite not wanting to feel Chanyeol’s warm aura, Baekhyun felt like he was a kid again wrapped up in blankets when he watched the snow fall.

Snow also began to fall that night. Baekhyun turned off the TV and lights and walked over the large window taking up a large portion of the apartment wall. The city below kept bustling and Baekhyun smiled because of the way the snow fell. Silently and slowly.

“Sorry if I was an ass earlier,” Baekhyun said, “I was just really overwhelmed.”  
            “No worries,” Chanyeol said, standing up to meet Baekhyun by the window. He carried a blanket over and wrapped it around Baekhyun. “You felt cold earlier, you really should stay warm. Don’t want to get sick, you know?”

“You kept me warm,” Baekhyun said, grinning.

“Yeah, I’ve been told I do that, give off heat. Guess it comes with being a fire Mimic.”

“Guess so. You must still get cold though, why don’t you take the other half of this blanket, it’s huge.”

Opening the blanket up, Chanyeol walked closer, smiling at how open Baekhyun was being with him.

“Thanks. I don’t really need it, but you’re not wrong about getting cold.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun began, “And thanks for helping me get home. You’re not too bad yourself.”

The silence was nice as they stood there, watching at the city below pass them by.

“Beautiful,” Baekhyun said. “I always loved this view.”

“It is. It’s nice being up here. Makes it easy to think. Also, how is your head doing?”

Baekhyun turned to face Chanyeol and Chanyeol lifted up Baekhyun’s bangs to see his wound. The intensity in his care made Baekhyun be reminded of Kyungsoo. Instantly, he wanted to turn away, but when he realized how careful Chanyeol was with him, he decided against it.

Baekhyun was mesmerized.

Call it sheer luck, serendipity, fate, Baekhyun felt that this moment was real and not some sort of fantasy.

“I’m okay,” Baekhyun said, watching Chanyeol’s eyes dart from place to place, eventually meeting Baekhyun’s eyes. For a moment, Baekhyun felt his heart jump, realizing just how close Chanyeol was. Baekhyun lifted up his arms to rest them on Chanyeol’s chest. “I think I’ll be fine, really.”

“Give me two seconds,” Chanyeol said, leaving their blanket and heading to the kitchen. He returned with a damp towel and began to blot away dried blood on Baekhyun’s forehead.

The damp touch against Baekhyun’s skin was nice after a long day at work. Conflicting with the coolness, however, was Chanyeol’s hands that dotted Baekhyun as he moved across his wound. When he was done, Chanyeol moved to Baekhyun’s cheeks. The man moved slowly, testing the waters to how much Baekhyun could handle. Baekhyun leaned into his light touch unconsciously and when Chanyeol placed the towel down, he rubbed his thumb against Baekhyun cheek.

Baekhyun knew he didn’t get a scratch on his cheek, but the feeling Chanyeol gave Baekhyun made him feel better.

“This feels so nice,” Baekhyun said, hazily. He then took his own hand and placed it on Chanyeol’s cheek. At first, Baekhyun also moved his hand slowly across Chanyeol’s face, watching patches of skin go dark from the shadow of the snowflakes falling.

This moment made Baekhyun feel cared for, more than anyone other than his mother showed towards him. Even more than his old boyfriend. Baekhyun’s stomach began to feel fluttery. He hadn’t felt that anxious around anyone in a long time. In the back of his mind, Baekhyun wanted to ignore the gravity pulling himself closer and closer to Chanyeol, but then he gave in. His eyes felt heavy as he blinked, and he leaned in, millimeters from Chanyeol.

With his breath becoming as shaky as his hand, Baekhyun hesitated, but he was met with confirmation of his feelings when Chanyeol moved his thumb across Baekhyun’s lips. Baekhyun’s breath hitched and he could feel heat of his own run across his face.

Chanyeol looked from Baekhyun’s eyes to his lips several times before saying, “You really are as beautiful as the Legend says.”

And then they collided.

Alive wasn’t even the right word to describe them as lips pressed against lips and skin moved across skin. Baekhyun moved his hand to behind Chanyeol’s neck and dug his fingers into his hair while Chanyeol moved his hand to Baekhyun’s, pulling slightly to make Baekhyun lean up more. The kisses were slow, painfully slow for Baekhyun and he almost moaned at how good of a kisser Chanyeol was.

They quickly made their way back to the couch, Baekhyun completely forgetting about the blanket as it fell to the floor, and they laid down, Baekhyun straddling Chanyeol’s hips, Chanyeol holding Baekhyun’s hips in his hands. Both of them had racing heartbeats and struggled to breathe through their kiss, arms wrapping around each other.

It wasn’t long before the two kissed even faster, throwing a few more sensual kisses in the mix. Chanyeol made his way from Baekhyun’s lips to the underside of Baekhyun’s chin to his neck. Chanyeol sucked hard, making Baekhyun shiver in the process.

Baekhyun pulled Chanyeol back up to his lips and they kissed long into the night enough for the two to fall asleep, Baekhyun resting on top of Chanyeol. Their steady breathing was the only noise heard through the apartment as Baekhyun dreamed once more of the land of magic his father told him long ago, snow falling down peacefully.

  


2: Young Baekhyun meets Chanyeol for the first time

The streets of Korea Town in New York City bustles with locals and foreigners alike during the night of the winter solstice. Baekhyun loved winter the most because it was a time of holidays when his mother could spend time home, and not away at work. They could be a family.

The stroll was full of lights that cleared away all the shadows from Baekhyun’s face and enough to make his wide smile the first thing a stranger passing by would see. Scarlet reds, deep golds, and antique silvers were the festival palettes Baekhyun loved to see each year.

Families normally gathered together during the holidays, but this year Baekhyun only had his mother’s hand to hold. The duo walked through the streets, reliving all the times the whole family walked together. Baekhyun’s mother holding onto a prize her husband had won for her, her husband’s hand holding her own with Baekhyun on his back, pointing out the different food places to eat. Baekhyun’s father would ask them if they were hungry despite already visiting almost all of them and his mother would only laugh.

Baekhyun walked down the street, taking in the different people, expecting to see a tall man with a large smile on his face resembling his own, but only caught the eyes of strangers.

Lights around them flickered for a few seconds. Baekhyun didn’t notice the unintended blinking since he was staring at his shoes scraping against the pavement.

“I miss dad,” he said, holding onto his mother’s hand. She only responded with a little squeeze. It was only a week since his father went missing.

Eventually, Baekhyun whined enough to make his mother stop to get food.

“Thank you,” the boy said as his mother placed a cup of hot chocolate and a croissant taiyaki down on a makeshift wooden table in a small indoor cafeteria.

“What do we say now, Baekhyun?” his mother asked before Baekhyun could shove any food down his mouth. She sat down next to him with her arms wrapped around to warm him up.

“ _I will enjoy this food_ ,” Baekhyun said in Korean.

“There you go,” the mother cooed, “now blow on it so you don’t burn your tongue.”

The hot chocolate was gone in milliseconds and the pastry even faster. Baekhyun’s mother patted his head.

“All good? Are you all warmed up now?”

He nodded.

“Why don’t you go throw your cup put and we can head back home.”

Baekhyun nodded again, standing up just as soon as a woman around his mother’s age approached the table. Her hair was tied in a knot and her long shawl drifted behind her as she walked. Baekhyun could only stare with wide eyes as she stood across from him.

“Baekhyun,” the woman said, eyes crinkling with a grin. She twirled her hand and a flower appeared out of thin air. Instantly, Baekhyun could smell it and held it gently when the woman handed it to him. It only lasted a few moments before disappearing, and when Baekhyun went to say something to the woman, she winked. “How are you, Haesoo?”

“Jihye, I told you, no magic around him,” Baekhyun’s mother said, standing up and hugging the woman. Baekhyun walked over to a trash can, barely hearing their conversation at this point.

The woman shrugged before their embrace. She pushed up her glasses, making the chain dangling down from them jingle in Baekhyun’s ears and then sat down. “Really, though, how’s it going? I heard about the news. Everyone’s been leaving, I’m surprised you’re staying.”

“It’s going. And it’s fine, Baekhyun will be okay.”

The woman pulled her glasses down, looking right over the rim of the frame, looking between Baekhyun, walking around the cafeteria, and his mother. “You’re kidding me. You aren’t doing that to him are you? He has great potential, just like his father.”

Baekhyun’s mother sighed. “I know, but it’s for him.”

Then the normal expression of the woman dropped further. “You did hear about the _other_ news though, right?”

By this point, Baekhyun has his face plastered on a glass window, looking at the people outside. Baekhyun, a little too you to understand the conversation, still disliked hearing about what could've happened to his father. It was all speculation.

All he knew was that he disappeared one day. No note, no goodbye kiss, nothing.

People of all ages passed by with happiness Baekhyun wish him and his mother could have. The wide smiles that lasted longer, the hugs that were for love, not pain. Everything seemed to be dimmed for the Byun family. Everyone was dressed for the cold, holiday season, and Baekhyun people watched for a while, hoping to see a familiar winter coat.

When he did, Baekhyun almost dropped where he stood.

There, almost twenty feet between himself and the glass, stood a man resembling his father. Baekhyun knew it was his father, even if he was looking away and slipped through the glass doors to get him. Baekhyun weaved through the crowd, almost losing sight of the man as he started to move away. Baekhyun ran down block after block, heading towards the park he and his father always went to. Baekhyun thought it was a game.

When they reached the entrance of the semi-empty park, Baekhyun reached out to touch the man’s coat. “Dad?”

The man stood still. Baekhyun, arm outstretched, stepped forward.

“Dad, is that you?” Baekhyun said, a little louder.

Still no response. When Baekhyun finally made contact with the coat, the man vanished out of thin air.

Baekhyun panicked.

“Dad? Dad, where are you?”

He whizzed back and forth, starting to scream out. “Dad, come back!”

Then, a small hand reached across Baekhyun’s body and covered his mouth.

Baekhyun tried to scream more, only to be muffled buy a glove. He wiggled his arms around, trying to break from the strong grip of the other person. Dragged further into the dark park, Baekhyun started to feel dizzy, his vision swirling around. The trees looked sideways and the snow filled ground was against his face. He was on the ground. Then he was pulled between a brick wall and a bush.

Still unaware of his attacker, Baekhyun still tried to call out for his dad through hands. His voice was weak, and he eventually resorted to making random shouts.

“Shut up,” a young voice said. “Please, they’re following me. They could catch you too.”

Baekhyun began to settle down and realized the hand around him was gone, the other gloved one, slowly moved away.

“Dad!”

The glove returned.

“Are you that much of an idiot?” the other person whispered loudly, twisting in front of Baekhyun, pushing the bush’s leaves out of the way.

Baekhyun froze. Before him, a boy no older than himself crouched in front of him, dark hair tousled like he went through a tunnel on a stormy day and a face full of small scratches. A patch of skin was covered with dirt, other areas occupied by sweat and a few streaks of blood. When the other boy pulled his hand away, his wrist was exposed, revealing for a brief second, a black band with a little silver charm. He ruffled his hair and then took in a deep breath before continuing. It looked like he was just in as much of a panic as Baekhyun was.

“Why are you here?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun replied. “I was following my dad, but he’s gone.”

“Great,” the boy said, pulling out a piece of paper. He skimmed through it’s unknown contents and then shoved it back in his coat pocket. “Listen, do you know any Kim’s around here? Kim as the last name I mean?”

Baekhyun shook his head. He was awful with names, let alone trying to help find one specific person in this giant city.

“Okay,” the boy said. Then he paused, looking over Baekhyun for a moment. “Give me your hand.”

“No.”

“Please.”

“Why should I? You’re a stranger.”

“I’m a good stranger. I have bad strangers chasing me. Please, I just want to see something.”

Baekhyun held his hands to his body. Sure, the boy looked like any normal kid off the block, but the urgency in his expression and body language scared Baekhyun. He kept turning around as if someone really was following him and kept pulling the paper in and out of his pocket. The child even looked very thin and below his eyes hung dark circles. His eyes were the scariest part. Deep behind his dark brown, it looked like a ring of gold was revolving around his iris. Baekhyun had never seen that before and thought the other kid was crazy. Maybe he drank some crazy spoiled milk? Maybe he was an alien? Then Baekhyun had an inkling that couldn’t leave his head.

Maybe he was a Mimic.

Baekhyun held up his hand slowly and the other boy smiled when he grabbed it. Instantly, there was nothing, but when Baekhyun began to doubt something, he felt instantly warm. It was like drinking that hot chocolate all over again, but stronger. Baekhyun could feel it like honey traveling all across his skin, through his heart, and around his body, into the smallest veins in his fingertips.

“Takes a second to warm up,” the boy says, “I think you know what I’m talking about.”

“Magic,” Baekhyun said, eyes wide. He knew he had encountered magic in the little moments of life, but they all fled his mind instantly, if not disappearing themselves. That flower the woman had? He just assumed it to be magic in the cheap sense, from a dollar store. But his was different. This was _real_.

“Mimic magic,” the other boy said. “Oh, and by the way my na-”

And then a loud crash, followed by a loud, broken laugh, was heard in the distance. Not a few feet away, a tree caught instantly on fire.

“You can’t run now boy,” a man said. “We got you surrounded!”

The boy grabbed Baekhyun by the wrist and pulled him up, just so they could peak over the tall bush. “We gotta run.”

“Run where? Who’s here? I don’t really know where I am. I only know how to get home.”

“Then take me there.”

The two boys fled quickly behind the bushes towards the exit nearby as a flash of lightning blinded the boys momentarily.

“We can see you running back there, dear,” an elderly woman said. “Looks like you got a friend too.”

A storm quickly blew across the city, dampening the streets with rain. With the storm came a huge whirlwind of clouds turning the clam, starry sky into a chaotic one. More thunder and lightning clashed in the sky.

Behind the two boys, a group of ten or so individuals in dark capes came walking over towards them as they finally reached the gates, breaking into the city streets.

“We will find you, Chanyeol! You can’t keep running forever!”

The other boy, Chanyeol, looked over to Baekhyun and then threw his arms in the direction of the group of others. A huge ball of fire manifested, growing in size towards the group. They split apart, allowing for the ball to crash into another tree.

When Baekhyun turned back around, he pulled Chanyeol into the nearest alleyway. They made twists and turns through the streets, winding their way through late night traffic. Police sirens began to sound off, firefighters not too far behind. It was like a freak accident, not magic that caused the trees to burst into flames.

“Why are they chasing you?” Baekhyun said after stepping into an alley a block from their house. The two boys took a breather, leaning against the wet alley wall of an apartment complex. Only then did it register to Baekhyun that it was raining.

“Did they do this, too?” Baekhyun said pointing to the sky.

“Probably, and they just showed up at my house one day. Since then I’ve been running.”

Baekhyun looked up to the sky. It wasn’t supposed to rain today. He slipped off his wet shoes and held them up. “My mom would kill me before those people do. This is my building.”

Chanyeol nodded, and the boys walked into the lobby, the people at the desk paying no mind to the children. They were turned around, watching the late-night news that was talking about a freak storm that appeared out of nowhere.

Baekhyun led Chanyeol to the elevators and when they stepped in, Baekhyun pressed the number to his apartment floor. The elevator zoomed up and Baekhyun almost fell off his feet when he twisted the knob to his door open. Inside, his mother screamed, both in shock of the two boys condition, the other happy to see her child alive.

Baekhyun’s mom motioned for them to walk over to her and then heard banging on the door. Baekhyun gripped his wet jacket in his hands. His heart fluttered at the speed that the lights flickered.

Instantly, after the banging ended, the lights stopped, and so did the beating of Baekhyun’s heart as the door burst open, fully breaking the barrier between Baekhyun’s safe haven for magic and the reality his mind never once imagined.

  


**06.**

“My mind feels fuzzy again,” Baekhyun said. “It happens every year around this time.”

Junmyeon shook his head. “Can’t believe it’s happening so fast.”

“What is?”

“The forgetting curse,” Junmyeon said, flipping through an ancient looking book.

Baekhyun sat up from his makeshift bed Minseok made for Baekhyun out of his living room couches. “Thanks for letting me stay here, by the way.”

Minseok walked over with his laptop, showing him an email. “No problem but take a look at this. I emailed the Ver Council, and they gave us this resource to try to fix your problem. They don’t know anything about you, I said it was for a paper I’m doing, so you’re safe. The last thing we need is House Ver on you trying to get you to follow their ideas on how the Legend will play out.”

“It says we only need a few objects,” Junmyeon said. “My father is a member on the Ver Council and he gave me this book to help out too. All we need is someone from the same House has to go into the memories of the person and put them back together.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Baekhyun said under his breath, pulling a blanket up further on him.

“In order to fix the curse,” Junmyeon continued, “It must be done on the day of the equinox or solstice without their bond breaking. If it does, most, if not all memories that were broken, will be lost forever. Other pieces needed to help the process include items related to the corresponding House. For House Hiem, the items include a Hiem Mirror amulet held by a member of the Hiem House Council, a silver goblet, a zircon ring, and candles. The more items the better, but the main piece needed is someone from the same house.”

“I’ve seen in my research,” Minseok said, pointing for Baekhyun to look at a link in the email, “That it’s okay to only have two. Many accounts of people trying this said it’s been successful with two.”

“I can try to get the mirror piece,” Junmyeon said, “I’m going to a joint House Council meeting later this weekend with my father for council training. Maybe we can split up the items so one item can be collected by one person?”

“Sounds good to me. I can get the candles. I have to have something here. You can try to find a silver goblet, Baekhyun. You have to have one somewhere if you’re in House Hiem.”

Baekhyun thought to the box he had of his father’s old stuff in his closet. He hadn’t touched it in years, thinking those items were cursed in their own ways. Part of him also believed that magic was what caused all of his problems, making him do his best to stay away from magic and Mimics. Looks like he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried, it was literally a part of who he was.

“Yeah,” he said, “I can try looking. And what about the fourth item? And a person to help complete this spell thing? Last I checked you both are in Ver.”

Before Minseok or Junmyeon could say anything, though, Junmyeon’s phone went off, cutting off Baekhyun’s questions. “Sorry, I have to take this call. I’ll see you guys in the cafe in thirty minutes.”

Junmyeon rushed out the front door, and Minseok looked at his watch. He ran his hand through his green hair and frowned. “I’m late, I’ll see you downstairs. Take your time getting ready, you look like you had a rough night trying to sleep.”

The next moment Baekhyun was able to process was the sound of a tea kettle going off in the cafe. He did take his time getting ready, taking a hot shower and grabbing a bagel to eat before heading down, but it all happened in a blur.

As Minseok went to turn off the kettle, the coffee bean grinder woke Baekhyun up even more from his day dreaming. He felt so overwhelmed and was surprised how much his life was twisted around. He was just a music major at college, and now, in the short span of his winter break, he found himself in a magic time warp. A Legend? Actual magic? It seemed absurd that all of this was real. It was like he took a left turn and found himself in a different rabbit hole than the one Alice went through.

What shocked him the most was the fact that he might have powers. Him having powers? No way. He couldn’t remember going through what Minseok explained earlier as a choosing ceremony. He blamed Baekhyun’s fuzzy memory on that, or possibly other possible causes, like something else that happened when he was younger. Baekhyun just couldn’t remember. He did remember his friends though, and that was all he needed right now to get through this shift of his, so he could go back to sleep, pretend his boyfriend was still here and that all this magic stuff was fake, and pretend this was his actual dream and that reality was right after he closed his eyes next.

“Baekhyun,” Minseok said, holding up a cup with an order.

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his eyes, “What’s up?

“Here’s an order. And are you sure you want to work today? Looks like you went to Hell and back.”

Baekhyun waved him off, taking the cup. “Positive, I need a little extra cash for when my mom needs medicine after she leaves the hospital next week. I’ll be as cool as a cucumber. But I hate those, so never mind. You get the point, right? And what’s with all those looks recently? Why all the eyebrow raises?”

Minseok turned back to the register, grinning. “Okay, just let me know if you need a break.”

The two went on for the next couple minutes in synch. The orders were taken by Minseok and then made by Baekhyun. Both young men only knew each other for a little while, but they became good friends quickly. Stuff like working together at the cafe was second nature to them, and it helped distract Baekhyun for a while, taking orders and cleaning when needed, on a rare occasion petting Minseok’s cat.

Eventually, the early afternoon break in customers gave the two a moment to breathe.

“Hey,” Minseok said, “I’m gonna go up and check on Tan’s food really quick. I’ll be right back.”

He went to turn around, but Baekhyun caught his arm, surprising himself and Minseok. It was his first real movement of the day, but Baekhyun had been thinking of so many questions and wanted answers, debating if he should even ask or not. Baekhyun treaded carefully.

“Um,” he said, “About last night.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You were a wreck when you came in. It’s okay to not feel okay, or even physically sick. You were at that park for hours last night.”

“Park? So, I was there!” Baekhyun exclaimed, “I thought that was another wild dream I had, like a dream in a dream or something. You saw the coat guy, right?”

“Coat guy?”

Before running his hands frantically through his hair, Baekhyun shook his head in disbelief, rubbing his hands against his cheeks.

“So, you did get me at the park? You did see the coat guy?”

“Junmyeon and I found you outside the cafe, we thought you just sat out there for a while. When did you go to the park?”

The store’s front door bell rang while they talked, but Baekhyun paid no attention to it. He kept describing the man.

“Yeah, he was tall, dark, and handsome. At least six-foot, dark hair and eyes. Really beautiful eyes. It almost looked like there was molten gold floating in them.”

Baekhyun kept describing the man to Minseok who starred past him in disbelief. He was perfectly describing who just walked in with Junmyeon.

“And his name is Chanyeol?” Minseok asked.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said, not really paying attention to what his friend was saying, “Chanyeol.”

Minseok’s eyes kept darting from Baekhyun to the people behind him.

“Wait a second,” Baekhyun said, finally catching on that other were there, “I don’t know a Chanyeol.”

Before him then stood the coat man, Chanyeol, and Junmyeon, who had on the same semi-terrified look as Minseok.

Chanyeol stepped forward, taking off the black hat he wore, making eye contact with Baekhyun.

“It’s him,” Chanyeol said, “At least I think it is.”

Minseok walked around the counter, Baekhyun keeping his eyes to the ground in embarrassment and unexplained shyness. Slowly trailing behind Minseok, Baekhyun felt his ears go redder the closer he got to the coat man. It was scaring him how strong the other man’s aura was. It was like stepping into a sauna.

“The only way you will know is if you will try,” Junmyeon said.

Baekhyun’s head snapped up. “Try what?”

“Hold hands,” Chanyeol said. Baekhyun was shocked at how casual the other man was and put his hands in his pockets.

“No,” Baekhyun whispered to Minseok, “This is ridiculous. He can’t possibly be it. Minseok, I just lost my boyfriend of a few years, I don’t need this right now.”

“Please,” Junmyeon said, “Just try. It sounds stupid, but we can tell right away if you guys really are it.”

The floor squeaked as Baekhyun was pushed forward by Minseok.

Chanyeol stepped forward to meet him, standing no more than a foot away. Baekhyun could feel heat radiate off of him. He did need it. He didn’t want it.

“I’ve waited years to see you,” Chanyeol said, breaking the few seconds of silence, swallowing hard, “You really don’t remember?”

“No.”

“It’s me though, the kid from the park? Funny how we met there again, huh?”

“Again?”

“Yeah, you and your mom saved me. It was like ten years ago.”

Still no memories came to mind. If anything popped up, it was like thin fragments of memories, flashes of faces or actions, but he didn’t remember Chanyeol. “I really don’t remember. We think I have a curse.”

“Absque reflexione?” Chanyeol asked and when the other two nodded, he cursed. “Damn, I didn’t know you’d be affected this soon. I’m sorry.”

“What’s there for you to be sorry about? You didn’t cause this.”

“Our past selves did. We can fix it though, we can end this cycle.”

“You really are spouting off nonsense now. Minseok what is this of a cycle, I thought we re the first rebirth or whatever of the past.”

“Technically yes,” he responded, “But technically no. You and Chanyeol are assumed to be like the original reflections, not a random copy.”

“What happened to the others exactly,” Baekhyun questioned.

Silence.

“You’ve got to be joking. Don’t tell me we are going to die,” Baekhyun said.

“Well,” Junmyeon said, “Each reincarnation has a chance to fix things. You have a better chance than most. Sometimes, if the Legend is accurate, the lovers never even had a chance to meet. You guys have an advantage.”

“Lover?” Baekhyun asked. “Do you really think I can fall in love with someone who might connect me to killers?”

Furious was easily the best emotion to categorize Baekhyun. He didn’t need to have a lover if he was going to die. He needed to support his real loved one, his mother.

“No offense,” Baekhyun said to Chanyeol, “But I don’t think this is possible. At least right now.”

“I can wait,” Chanyeol said.

Baekhyun stepped away, rubbing his temples. “You don’t get it, what if I have more important things? I have my mom to take care of right now.”

“Your mother is alive?” Chanyeol asked, closing the gap between them again. “Is she okay?”

“She had pneumonia. She’ll be back hoe next week.”

“Oh, thank god,” Chanyeol said. “I never properly thanked her. Please tell her I’m okay if you can.”

Baekhyun ignored him and began taking off his apron.

“Wait, Baekhyun,” Minseok said, “You’re not leave, now are you?”

“I am,” Baekhyun said, “And this shouldn’t be wasting my time, I actually need to do something later.”

To get his attention back, Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s hand. “Wait, please don’t go yet. I want to know this too. I understand if you’re frustrated, but I’ve waited to see you for a while, even longer to be able to search for you. My life has been hell too, and I want to see this through as much as you do.”

Baekhyun felt the same power surge through his as last night and he tried pulling away, afraid of what might come out of it. Chanyeol only held on tighter. “We’re in this together, if you don’t want this or not.”

Relaxing himself, realizing he was weaker than the other man, Baekhyun gave into the pressure. “Fine. What is it?”

“Just hold hands,” Junmyeon said. “The rest is up to your magic.”

The hand holding Baekhyun felt strong and hot, like he was emitting heat. Baekhyun remembered the original legend from what Minseok said, and then tried to combat with his own powers. Instantly, all the lights went out of the cafe and Baekhyun held onto Chanyeol, afraid if he let go something else would happen.

Then, the crowns appeared. A blue one for Chanyeol, a white one for Baekhyun. At first, Baekhyun saw Chanyeol’s, and instantly felt a wave of emotions run through him. Anxiety, fear, sadness, and a little bit of hope. It felt familiar, but he never had moments to cause emotions like this with Chanyeol, so why did he feel them?

“These are called Coronas,” Junmyeon said. “It’s how we know the Legend if real. The Legend of Coronas.”

“It’s beautiful,” Minseok said.

Baekhyun looked up above his head, seeing a spiral of light surrounding his head. His hair was covered in light and crystals began to drip down from the tips, as if wet. Drips from his bangs fell to his face and he felt a rush of tears of his own fill his eyes. It was like he was mimicking his powers; he expelled a light through his emotions, a burst or a glimmer. A laugh of a tear. Each time he felt one extreme or another, Baekhyun could feel a little piece of pressure lift off of his body. The room was then covered in light Baekhyun made.

“What’s happening?” Baekhyun asked, now fully having tear leak out of his eyes “Why am I crying?”

After failing to wipe them away, Baekhyun noticed Chanyeol also was crying.

“Do you feel it?” Chanyeol asked, “How we once felt with each other?”

“He’s referring to your past,” Junmyeon said, “This happens to, where you sometimes get a past memory or emotion you shared. Since you are copies of the originals, you must be brimming with information.”

And they were. Even though Baekhyun was affected by the curse, he still was able to see moments of the last seconds of his life. Over and over, he saw Chanyeol come towards him with a piece of a broken mirror. Over and over, he heard him whisper “I love you.” Over and over, he felt the rush of blood, the rush of life escaping his body. He was killed by the man that loved him. The man he loved back.

They all stood there a while, realizing what they were going to face next would not be easy. Baekhyun at least had a little more evidence to support his unknown feelings and mixed memories. All he truly wanted, although he wouldn’t admit it, was to have his father back. If this is what he had to do to get at least one memory back, one memory besides an old picture or a story from his mother, his own pure memory, then he would do what it would take to get him back.

  


**09.**

After Chanyeol left when he got Minseok’s message, Baekhyun sat alone in his apartment, waiting for the signal to move. Restless was the not even the right word to use for Baekhyun while he paced the entire apartment quickly, checking his own phone every ten seconds despite having the ringer sound on.

While pacing, Baekhyun thought of all the times that he might’ve gotten hurt himself by House Sol. He had so many instances where he wasn’t careful enough and felt ashamed at how selfish he was throughout the last week. He felt useless. He tried calling Chanyeol several times, feeling his heart jump at the thought of him getting injured. Sure, he knew Chanyeol was strong, but how strong could he be against a whole House?

Baekhyun decided to head out to the cafe and see if Minseok would at least be there to fill him in. On his way over, he got a message from Kyungsoo, making him stop in his tracks. Of all times to hear from his ex, now was the worst.

The message was simple, “Hey can you meet me at the park tonight?” and Baekhyun debated with himself whether he should go or not. Although he was heading to the cafe, the park was on the way and Baekhyun decided that it was best to finally close things with him. A quick stop wouldn’t hurt.

As soon as Baekhyun reached the park, he could see Kyungsoo’s short hair peeking over the bushes. Baekhyun turned the corner, second guessing himself as he walked up to Kyungsoo, but stood his ground, calling out his name to get his attention. He wanted to end things, but he wanted to do it right. As much as he wanted to yell in his face about how lonely he felt after their breakup, he thought about what he was going through as well. Kyungsoo always talked about how stressed he was and that he had big plans he was scared of in the future like any other college student, so Baekhyun could understand. What he didn’t understand was why his ex was then standing with Chanyeol being constrained by two other men in black capes, hoods concealing their faces.

Flashes of magic then whizzed by Baekhyun and he dropped to the ground.

“Kyungsoo,” he called out, “What’s going on?”

Kyungsoo caught Baekhyun’s eyes and he looked away quickly. Baekhyun watched his lips move, wording what looked like “I’m sorry.”

Then, he turned to Chanyeol, and rocks surrounded him like a cage.

“You’re a Mimic? You’re in House Sol?” Baekhyun asked Kyungsoo. No reply was given but people began to appear out of thin air, surrounding him in the middle of the park. “Kyungsoo, what’s happening?”

The man walked forward and held out a thin book with the title “Legends of Hiem” and Baekhyun quickly sifted through it, turning to a dog-eared page. On that page was the title he heard too many times in the last few hours.

“The Legend of Coronas,” Baekhyun whispered. “You knew about this too?”

With a shake of his head, Kyungsoo handed the book back to a cloaked figure and then crouched down to meet Baekhyun still on the snow-covered ground. “I have a destiny too, and I want to see this through. Do you know the full Legend, Baekhyun? DO you know what happens to you and your dear lover?”

Baekhyun was shocked at the amount of venom in his tone as he spoke. “You and I are about to fight on a fine evening like tonight, and then that lover of yours kills you.”

No amount of words could convince Baekhyun that this was real, and he looked over to Chanyeol, remembering what he was told about the Legend.

“Take me,” Chanyeol yelled, gripping the cage around him. “Don’t kill him, he’s innocent!”

“No,” Baekhyun said, “Take me. That’s why you texted me right? To lure me here? To replay the past? Take me instead. End this god-awful cycle.”

Kyungsoo forged a stone sword and then raised it above his head. “I really didn’t want this to happen, but it fell into place so nicely, I couldn’t resist.”

With a lowered head, Baekhyun could feel a tear fall down his cheek. All the moments he spent with Chanyeol and his friends the last few days grew louder within his chaotic mind. When the blade was just about to his Baekhyun’s head, light flashed, blinding everyone in the park. Above Baekhyun’s head when the light ceased, was a crown, just like before.

Kyungsoo swung again at Baekhyun, this time aiming for his chest, but his sword was deflected. Baekhyun had created a shield of light around his body.

“No,” Kyungsoo shouted, swinging again and again with no luck at striking Baekhyun down. “This can’t be happening!”

Baekhyun stood up, power flooding his system, and then proceeded to walk over to Chanyeol. They held out their hands, and when their fingers weaved together, Baekhyun’s shield diminished the rock cage and pushed the other Mimics away, Kyungsoo included.

After Chanyeol gathered his bearings, he threw fireballs at the others. One by one, the followers left, Kyungsoo crawling on the ground.

Luckily, Junmyeon and Minseok came rushing into the park, throwing water and ice over the man, creating a new cage.

“I’ve called the Hiem Council,” Junmyeon said. “People are on their way to help.”

“That was incredible,” Minseok said, hugging Baekhyun and Chanyeol, “I can’t believe how strong you guys are. You literally cleared out all of the Sol Mimics gone rogue.”

“I just did what felt right,” Baekhyun said, squeezing Chanyeol’s hand tighter, “I really don’t think any of this would’ve been possible without him.”

“Same to you,” Chanyeol said, leaning in to give him a quick kiss.

“Wow,” Junmyeon said, “Looks like you guys really do fall in love fast.”

“Get a room,” Minseok said, elbowing Baekhyun, making the whole group laugh.

In no time, the Hiem authorities took Kyungsoo away for good and Baekhyun and Chanyeol finally completed the forgetting curse spell they worked hard to collect items for.

Baekhyun got all of his memories back, was awarded by the Hiem House Council for the trouble they caused earlier in his life, along with Chanyeol, Minseok, and Junmyeon for helping put a stop to the House Sol crime.

One evening, several months later, Baekhyun threw his birthday party at the cafe with everyone who helped him out, including some other family relatives. Everyone congratulated him for being able to handle the burden of the Legend and Baekhyun ended the night going up to the roof of the building with Chanyeol.

 With the early summer breeze shifting their loose clothes and fluffy hair, the two lovers were finally able to live out their lives in piece. When stars shot across the sky, Baekhyun wished for a happily ever after, but little did he know as he leaned his head against Chanyeol’s shoulder, he already had one.

 

 


End file.
